The present invention relates to a furnace system especially to coal burning furnace systems and to a method of operation thereof.
Reference is particularly made to my U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,278. In this U.S. patent I disclose apparatus and methods for enhancing the combustion of the flue gases and solids of the coal. In addition, I disclose a method by which water in a boiler may be heated by virtue of heat transfer through the combustion chamber flue walls or sheets.
One of the problems associated with the furnaces of the prior art was that the coal was not fed to the combustion chamber efficiently resulting thereby in a greater heat production loss than may be required for particular applications, such as in coal fired steam boiler systems capable of replacing diesel powered systems in railroad locomotives in order to generate electrical power for the locomotive's various uses.
Because of the known size requirements of railroad locomotives, the device claimed in my aforementioned patent presented installation problems in confined spaces, such as in the railroad locomotive engine housing space.